Thursday, February 14, 2013

Snow White

Last weekend the Maritimes experienced a major snow storm called Nemo. Seems harmless given the reference to Nemo in popular culture but it was a bit of a blow for the region and a large part of the eastern half of the continent. In the morning I let the dogs out and per usual Leeloo, Cora and Esme shot out the door without checking the weather, while Raimi hung back as always to make sure it wasn't raining. When he saw the wind and snow blowing he put on the brakes and, while I was holding the door open to encourage him out, Cora had done an about face and shot back inside. Now I had two sad-faced Ridgebacks refusing to go out in the snow. I had to push them out, whereupon they stood on the deck looking horrified. It's only a little snow I told them.

I was proven wrong throughout the rest of the day as I watched the drifts build around the house and the insane north east wind blow the trees about dangerously. I have only sat through a couple true of Nor'Easters in Atlantic Canada and none of them had the force or velocity of this one. I don't think I've ever sat through a storm like this in living memory actually. It was quite the event and although it had mostly blown itself out by Sunday afternoon, and thankfully we never lost power, there was a lot of snow to shift. Still, we took to the woods to see how the landscape had changed in 36 hours and I brought along my camera to record the dogs after their first major snowstorm at this property.

I would say they enjoyed themselves ... to a point. Raimi and Leeloo got to wear coats; Raimi because he is a big ol' sissy-boy and Leeloo because she doesn't like to get wet. Cora is a bit more hardy because she's young and invincible ... so she thinks. Still, it's hard going in snow that's 18 inches deep when your legs are only 18 inches long.

Now imagine you are Esme. I will give her this: Esme is all try and never quits. It didn't matter how deep the snow was, where we went, or how hard it was, she never ever gave up trying to keep up. I took pity on her a few times and carried her over some of the larger drifts but she doesn't like being carried and for my part it's hard to carry a 35 pound dog in deep snow.

Snow changes the landscape so unless you remember where the dips and hollows are you can find yourself in much deeper than you intended. I decided to head into the woods thinking that there would be less snow there, and I was right, but because of the lay of the land getting to the woods proved a little more difficult than expected! Cora smashed her way through with all the verve and vigor of the young.

Leeloo, on the other hand, flew over the snow with all the skill and experience of an older dog. Plus she has the added benefit of, although not being the tallest dog in the bunch, having the longest legs.

Raimi muddled through and tolerated my encouragement and requests to run a little more in the snow but every time he thought I was headed back to the house, he was off like a shot and waiting on the deck for me to let him inside. I'm not sure if he doesn't like the snow because he has dangly bits that get cold or if he's just the biggest baby ever. Likely it's a bit of both. The girls have always been made of sterner stuff and although he looks like a big scary dog, he's the softest of the three. Everyone spent the rest of the day napping under their binkies after this walk!

We had a lot more adventures than this though so more photos to follow in the coming days ...